The biofilm life cycle and virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa are dependent on a filamentous prophage.

Mature Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms undergo specific developmental events. Using a bacteriophage mutant, generated by deletion of the entire filamentous Pf4 prophage, we show that the phage is essential for several stages of the biofilm life cycle and that it significantly contributes to the viru... View More